Yesterday 21 Feb 2011 we celebrated Carol’s Birthday … and then in the afternoon, the tweets on my Serkes Twitter Account about the Christchurch Earthquake came in.
I don’t spend much time on Twitter these days, but do recommend everyone set up an account so you have redundant means of communication in case of emergency … and this is a perfect example.
The Christchurch Earthquake fault is about the same distance the Hayward Fault is from our house.
Christchurch is about same population as Berkeley/Oakland/Piedmont
New Zealand has about the same population as our region of the San Francisco Bay Area
We rang in the 2004 New Year in the Christchurch Cathedral Square; I was standing in the same spot where the Cathedral Spire fell.
I know our Kiwi friends would reach out to help us; so I urge you to reach out to help them.
Google Earth/USGS/Earthscope Map of Berkeley’s Hayward Fault
Over the past day, I’ve been thinking a lot about Christchurch and Berkeley and decided to put up a youtube video for them. Just click on the image below to view it. (and don’t worry, I’m definitely not going to quit my day job!)
The US Red Cross Site is http://www.redcross.org/and the New Zealand Red Cross Site has been hard to reach, but appears to be this http://www.redcross.org.nz/
How much to contribute?
When we travelled around New Zealand, we kept hearing it was the land of 4 million people and 40 million sheep
So … I suggest the amount of a nice lamb dinner for two … or four.
in honor of my Christchurch friends, I created a youtube video about this while wearing my @ T-Shirt
It’s from the painting Landscape by Tony de Lautour – a large 2 x 3 meter painting we saw at the Christchurch Art Gallery
It seemed the appropriate thing to wear when using the internet to help our friends.
Hope you can help!
Ira, What a lovely post and a great gesture by you to rally to the call of our New Zealand ‘Cuzzies’. They need the love and support of the rest of the World badly at the moment.
Like Carol and You, Michelle and I have spent quite a bit of time in the Beautiful City of Christchurch. Its culture, architecture, and fine people have always held a special place in our hearts. The sight of the once magnificent and iconic Cathedral Spire crumbled on the ground reduced me (a 6’3′ 250 pound Gorilla) to tears yesterday. We Aussies and Kiwi’s have a jovial love/hate relationship with each other that only the Aussies and Kiwi’s will ever properly appreciate. But we hate to see a Cuzzie in trouble unless its on a Rugby field.
Thank you for showing that you care and rallying to the cause by creating awareness to your friends. Any support your friends are able to show by sharing a few ‘lamb dinners’ with our Mates across the ditch will be greatly appreciated.
You’re a Good Man Ira Serkes.
Very special thoughts Ira… thank you so much for sharing.
My heart sinks to think about this beautiful city and the lives that have been crushed by this event. Like many others, I have delightful memories of Christchurch and have friends listed as missing which is gut wrenching enough. I can only imagine what those who have family members involved would be feeling. Sadest of all is that I know of a Crèche in one of the collapsed buildings.
Lets keep encouraging everyone who can help to do so. Thank you. Your forever friend ‘down under’ …Julie